Strips or QB?

InTheValley said:

Thats awesome man, thanks for your time. Makes alot of sense now for sure. The KW does say 110volts, I learned alot just now,

Like I said, I have like $150 in this build, and that includes the GrowMau Puck. I have a friend that works in the metal industry, and will probably make my case for the lights. I asked him for aluminum, he asked for sketches. lol.. wouldnt surprise me he shows up with a encasement for these strips. Not alot of heat. I had them on a wood table, and the table barly got warm. Of course, they are in aluminum extrusions also. I could make the case out of wood, lol..

Im using the $16 ebay 360watt PS, 30amps. But plan on upgrading to Meanwell in the near future.

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Are you using a constant voltage driver ?Can you dimm the strips from 100% to 0% ?
Would be interesting after one or two years of use when better leds will appear, you can use the stripes very efficiently at very low wattages to provide side lighting and intracanopy light without fear of burning the plants and maybe without heatsink and of course use them for cloning etc...

InTheValley said:

well, obviously, QBs are the shit. The grows coming out have been phenomenal, with a few mid flower, and goodness gosh, the frost on these dudes trees is amazing.

When i can afford one, Ill get one, but till then, Im going to roll with these cheap ass strips. These numbers are for 20 strips, 10pc - 5k 10pc 3k,

12.volts 225 watts 17.6 amps
14 inches-- 1270 par--70,000 lux -- 225 watts
26 inches-- 800 par--45,000 lux -- 225 watts
36 inches-- 630 par--32,800 lux --225 watts (680 par @ 255watts) (20amps, meter max)
47 inches-- 500 par-- 20,000 lux --225 watts

10.5 volts 95watts - 8.7 amps
14 inches -- 620 par-- 30,000 lux -- 95 watts
26 inches -- 450 par-- 24,000 lux -- 95 watts
36 inches -- 360 par-- 18,000 lux -- 95 watts
47 inches -- 300 par-- 13,000 lux -- 95 watts

Something else I found odd, maybe someone can shine some light on this for me.

I use a PeaceFair Volt, watt, amp meter, and I also used a Kill-a-watt Meter.

PF- @ 12. volts = 225 watts - 17.6 amps
KW @ 12. volts = 255 watts - 3.19 amps

PF @ 10.5 volts = 95 watts - 9.4 amps
KW @ 10.5 volts = 120 watts - 1.6 amps

So, whats that all about? Big difference in amps.

OK, again, for anyone interested in these numbers, I posted them to help,

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You're seeing the difference between input current at 120VAC and output current at 12VDC. As voltage goes down, current goes up.

nachooo said:

Are you using a constant voltage driver ?Can you dimm the strips from 100% to 0% ?
Would be interesting after one or two years of use when better leds will appear, you can use the stripes very efficiently at very low wattages to provide side lighting and intracanopy light without fear of burning the plants and maybe without heatsink and of course use them for cloning etc...

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Yes, I am running constant voltage, Yes, i can dim the lights via screw driver. the lowest possible is 10.4 volts, and not sure the max. ( about 50%) I went to just 12.5 , then my meter hit 20amps, which says is the max for it. But does that mean 20amps on the meter DC i presume. Because the killawatt meter says 3 amps.

I dont know what the volt max is for these strips, so i didnt want to push it. at 12volts, each strip consumes 15 watts via my single strip test i did earlier.

I also have 2 switches to manually turn off either spectrum, its my bloom/veg switch, lol..

as for sidelighting, I seen a cool video using the flexstrip LEDs onto some sort of leather or something, and you can bend it, rollit, whatever. Im sure having a few of those would be beneficial.

BUT, something we must keep in mind is, Using QBs or even strips, its most benefit will come from Scrogging, so side lighting really isnt worth it, just my opinion. You want to fill a net, keeping everything uniform, and vegging and topping out as many colas possible. Also something else about QBs and Strips, is the light source penetrates sideways, due to SO MANY FREAKING DIODES, lol,, Thats the beauty of these.

It would be cool to get a Lux reading at 18, 24, 35 inch on a QB.

nc208 said:

It is weird that LED guys are the only ones who bring up bulb replacement cost. Do you think it has anything to do with the fact that leds don't need to be replaced every year. Makes sense why mh, t5, hps and cfl don't talk about bulb replacement because it's a given they have to do it.

So when you make comments like LEDs are too expensive but do not regard annual bulb cost into the equation then you are missing one of the biggest benefits to LED.

We aren't talking Ballasts. Talking about bulb replacement lucky Luke.

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OK, . I use one MH for veg and One HPS for flower. I replace one of these bulbs every year at a cost of approx.$30- $50. I understand to some a yearly replacement bulb cost of $30 - $50 is high. You mentioned that an led light will last 5 to 10 years, only fair I mentioned that a Ballast can last decades. Both lights have pros and cons- no argument.

Now please. I didn't start this thread for you to turn it into a HID VS LED argument. I'm looking for advice and discussion on the two options I asked about. I'm not interested in spending 1k on a prebuilt light when I can spend 1/3 or less, of that for a better product. Yes id like the convenience of a pre built unit but realistically priced units are not available yet. Can you please stop derailing, if you would like a debate on HID vs LED then I'm sure theres a few already about that would welcome your opinions.
HID works for me in winter. It saves me the cost of running a heater- just.
LED should work better for me in Summer and save me some electricity costs.

Lucky Luke said:

Thats why the strips or QB 120's are so attractive, I can get away with under $300US if using 6 QB120s. Under $200 for 4. I'm not trying to replace a 1000w, its a 600w.
.
You can hang the QB as is or on a sheet of aluminium. Either way its cheap and easy no heat sinks or fans required.

I certainly wont be getting rid of my HID rig. Its essential in winter as it would save running a heater, as it is I should be running a heater. Bulb replacement costs are not very much....weird that LED guys are the only ones who bring that up....and a ballast can last decades. But this thread is not a HID VS LED thread, so lets move back to the discussion please.

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I never said anything about HID.

Enigma said:

I never said anything about HID.

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yes i know..I quoted two people in that reply. The other person I quoted did.


Thanks to everyone so far by the way for their insights and comments on the fixtures, fittings etc.

Just to add in, I'll be building a fixture with 8x 280 mm Bridgelux EB strips in 4000K for vegetation. Driving them at 750 mA I will just mount them to the cabinet directly without a heat sink.

I'm still partial to the Bridgelux Vero 29 C, I'm using three of them in flower.

Another budget setup for a 4x 4' could be:

- 10x 4ft. EB-Series strips, 146,90$ +VAT
https://www.digikey.de/product-detail/en/bridgelux/BXEB-L1120Z-40E4000-C-A3/976-1504-ND/6236290

- 2x HLG-240H-C1050B, 57,80$ x2=115,60 +VAT
https://www.tme.eu/de/details/hlg-240h-c1050b/netzteile-fuer-led-dioden/mean-well/

- 2 Aluminum sheets, ~1150 x50 x3mm, 20$ x2=40$(walmart, metal store or from your local crap yard, Lol)

If you take the 4.000°k strips for both, veg and bloom circle, and run them slightly higher at 1050mA, you will get around 153lm/w. Each of this "mega-quantum sheets" would produce around 250w at full blast, so 500w total... if you want! Drive them lower and the effiency will increase, 159lm/w @700mA and 164lm/w @350mA.
But the best thing about these strips is that you can distribute them optimally and get a much more homogeneous illumination. That means, larger distances between the strips in the center and outwards narrowing distances between the strips.
In the best case, you can eliminate the hotspot in the middle almost completely!

When VAT is ~20% you can get away with around 365$. Add 35$ for misc parts like wires, wallplug, dimmers and the likes and you got a powerfull ~500w lamp for 400$.
Or take only 8 strips and 2x HLG-185H-C1050B for ~400w and 60$ less.
Should be enough for a 4 by 4'...